Tony and Cindy's new place
When word leaked out that Cindy Wolf and Tony Foreman, the owners of Charleston, Petit Louis, Pazo and Bin 604 Wine Sellers, would be opening a new restaurant in Harbor East, those who love to eat out wanted all the details.
And they wanted them immediately.
Those details have been kept very quiet. If the secrecy was a publicity ploy on the Charleston Group’s part, as some grumbled, it worked.
But now it's official. Cinghiale, a northern Italian restaurant, is scheduled to open across the street from Charleston in September. ...
(Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)
"It's a relief to finally be able to talk about it," Wolf told me over the phone this afternoon. The couple wanted to wait to make any announcement until everything major was finalized.
Cinghiale, which is pronounced ching-GYAL-lay, means "wild boar" in Italian. I can tell them right now they're going to have trouble getting people to pronounce that first syllable correctly.
The restaurant will be a combination of an enoteca, a place to drink wine, and an osteria, or tavern. The osteria will be the dressier dining room of the restaurant, with mahogany, leather banquettes and white tablecloths. Architect Patrick Sutton, who worked with the couple on Pazo and the redo of Charleston, is Cinghiale’s designer.
Stefano Frigerio, a native of Italy who got his culinary training there, will be Cinghiale’s executive chef. He worked as senior sous chef at the highly respected Italian restaurant Maestro in McLean, Va., before coming to Baltimore.
“I believe you will find my food is a modern interpretation of time-honored Italian dishes,” said Frigerio in the press release I got from the Charleston Group.
Foreman began developing Cinghiale’s wine list over a year ago, concentrating on wines from northern and central Italy. The restaurant will offer some 400 labels and 40 wines by the glass. There will also be several flights of three to five wines daily. A sommelier and two assistant sommeliers will work under his direction.
Customers will enter through the enoteca, which Foreman says he hopes will get people involved with wine “in a fun, unscary way.” Next to the bar will be a selection of cold cuts, cheeses and other antipasti prepared in full view of the patrons.
For more serious dining, customers will continue on into the osteria, where entrees will be priced from $12 to $35. Seating in the restaurant is available for 208 guests, with 26 seats at the bar and outdoor seating for 40. Valet parking will be complimentary.
Unlike the Charleston Group’s other two downtown restaurants, Cinghiale will be open daily for lunch as well as dinner. A late night menu will be available Friday and Saturday until 1 a.m.
Comments
Sounds good...can't wait to visit :)
Posted by: Eric | August 1, 2007 11:17 AM
When will they start taking reservations? Any place that Ms. Wolf opens is on my "must" dine list. Charleston, as of last week, is still one of the best restaurants on the East Coast.
Posted by: William G. Giery | August 1, 2007 4:28 PM